“I suspect that there is a social engineering aspect to this,” he says.

Some residents are concerned infrastructure could not cope.

Deputy mayor Penny Hulse says the draft plan has been written with this in mind.

“We are not going to jam houses in on top of infrastructure that can’t cope,” she says. “But we are also not going to build extremely expensive infrastructure that your rates will pay for now if the development isn’t there.”

Other residents are concerned about where new parks might go.

Ms Pirrit says the council is looking at that in a separate process.

Pakuranga resident Catherine Young supports intensification but is worried about heritage areas and the coast.

“I want to know what consequences are built into this plan for developers who break the rules.”

Ms Pirrit says the Resource Management Act sets them out not the council. Many officers and councillors feel the level of those fines is not appropriate.

“And in some instances they are hardly worth the effort of taking the person to court.”